Job Discussion Forums

[comenius]

Heya folks,

I worked for several years in my mid to late 20's doing EFL and ESL work both overseas (in Prague, Taipei and Istanbul) and the US (primarily in NYC). During that time I got my MA in TESOL, started an ESL web site with a friend, and had a enjoyable, laid back but relatively spartan life.

About six years ago I got married and changed careers in an effort to make some money and work in the field of technology. I'm now a senior level technology manager in a fairly large company in the U.S. The pay and benefits are very good, but I find myself coming back to Dave's and other similar web sites to reminisce about my time as a teacher, and occasionally ponder the possibility of returning to the field.

So I guess my question is, has anyone ever been a teacher for an extended period, quit to pursue something else for a while, and then returned to teaching and felt it was a good decision? I'm guessing I'm not the only one in my position, so I'm hoping folks who have some experience in this area can enlighten me!

Oh, and as this is my first real "post," I guess hello to all as well!

[jobe3x]

I'd love to hear more comments about this subject.

I'm considering jumping into ESL from successfull IT career.

[lilsis]

Hi

I taught in Istanbul 20 years ago - taught for survival, literally, and without training or many resources. Amazingly enough, I found I loved it. I returned to England and taught on and off at summer schools and hosting/teaching students. However, over the 20 years between then and now, I've had many careers. Aged 48, I've just completed bootcamp - I mean the CELTA course, and am off once more to teach in Spain.

I'm teaching an immersion student right now and loving it. I'm looking forward to the work, the other students, the adventure.

I think, and I hope, it's like getting back on a bike. I'll let you know!
All the best to you.

[comenius]

Just thought I'd pop back in to see if any other folks had thoughts or comments...

[Teacher in Rome]

I went straight into EFL from university and taught for a few years. Later I moved into publishing and did that for a few years. Got bored, and went back into EFL and have never looked back since.

EFL has moved on a lot since the late 1980s. When I first started, all the courses were general English or exam preparation. Now a lot more of what I do is "business English" and I increasingly work with clients to create offline / online tailored courses. It still doesn't have the "cachet" of management or ICT training, but if you take yourself and your training seriously, you can definitely create a career for yourself.

[nomadder]

I'm trying to go back after a few years off but so far no luck. Now I have one foot in a one foot out as I can see the benefits of living in my home country but would still like to experience some of the things I left behind in the country where I taught. I don't think I'm ready to settle yet but can I uproot myself once again?

[ls650]

[EverReady]

I taught in Mexico for two years, then decided to leave because I wanted to make more money, naturally, I can't handle "real" work, so I became a professional poker player. I made quite a bit of money doing that, but I decided that I wanted my life to have some significance, so I decide to get back into teaching a few months ago, now I'm teaching at a university in Mexico, and I can't complain about my life (although I make a considerable side income from playing poker on the internet).

[Jizzo T. Clown]

ls650--

Is it really that impossible to retire in this line of work? Of course if you're an ESL specialist for a school district or an ESL teacher in public schools here in the States, then you could have a decent retirement.

As for me, once I completed my Bachelors in Business Administration, I learned that I didn't like business that much after all. I worked as a sales rep for a short time and HATED it. I went to Japan shortly thereafter, then China, now here at an American university--and have never considered doing anything other than teaching. And yes, there are more profitable places to teach than the US. I love this work, but the only hard part now is figuring out where I want to do it...

[Hod]

I worked in engineering for a number of years before being posted overseas. It proved such an eye-opener that I soon knew life back in the UK would never be the same again. Holidays abroad just didn't do it for me, and it's not so easy to get decent overseas jobs in engineering. So, I ended up leaving and doing the CELTA. Looking back now, that was just daft. If it turned out I couldn't teach and I ended up failing the CELTA, I would've needed a snorkel to breathe through the smelly stuff.

I did, however, do a decent job of teaching, ending up with the British Council. I always knew, though, that one day I would have to do something else. Sorry, but how can anyone teach food vocabulary or the past simple more than five times without Mr Monotony and Brother Burnout popping their heads round the door to say hi? So, after three years in teaching, I tried my luck applying for some engineering jobs. The interview that sticks in my mind was done in German which I had learned whilst teaching. The interviewer kept nodding his head and asking why I, an engineer, had become a teacher. I gave all the right answers about people skills and flexibility, but he wasn't interested. Some friends later said he must have been a bad interviewer. Yes, he was appalling, but someone else got the job.

To cut a long one short, I am an engineer again, shortly to be working overseas. Every day is different and I am far more challenged than I ever was as a teacher. What's more, I go home at five and the weekends are mine. I've been told that money isn't everything. That's true, but it's a hell of a lot. Teaching's great, but when you wake up one morning in your forties without a pot to pee in, it will be you who'll be needing that snorkel.

Teaching gives you a huge amount of skills that will give you an enormous edge over colleagues who you might work with in the future in other professions. The thing is, you've got to get out of it before it's too late. Despite the kick up the rear end that teaching gave me, I wouldn't go back to it in a million years.

[denise]

Hod--

I�m sorry you�ve got such a low opinion of the teaching field. It certainly doesn�t have to become monotonous. If you didn�t feel challenged, maybe your school wasn�t challenging you? Maybe you weren�t challenging yourself? I feel much more at ease in this profession than I did when I started six years ago, but as I�ve gotten more comfortable I�ve also found, or created, new challenges.

It seems a bit contradictory to imply that you want a more challenging job but you enjoy your current job because it finishes at 5 and then you`re free. What kind of challenges are you looking for? I�ve found that mental challenges are on-going; one�s brain doesn�t stop thinking just because it�s 5pm and time to go home.

Teaching does not just have to be a stepping stone to other careers--something to give you "people skills," flexibility, and whatnot. It sounds like it was a nice respite for you, a bit of an adventure in between engineering jobs, but for some of us it is a career.

d

[Hod]

[Mchristophermsw]

Hod

I was reading your exhange with Denise and wanted to comment that it is all about quality of life...And that will differ from person to person.

I live in Silicon Valley and we have our fill of Engineers and high tech types and some love their field and others are "silently dying" and stuck in a place and profession that does not satisfy them.

Are you wrong? Are you right? I would say neither wrong or right for your choice rather it is just a matter of personal preferance..And it works for YOU, that is all that should matter.

But I will also comment that teaching overseas works for others, like Denise( Who by all accounts seems to be living a stimulating, satisfying and rewarding life...and in the near future, myself.

Hod, also if your so satisfied with your choice, why are you on a ESL forum? No disrespect, but Iam just curious?

Well Hod,
Continued blessings and Iam glad you found your fit.

[Will.]

I taught EFL before uni, then after teacher training I taught secondary school for six months, then a six months stint in EFL and then went back to Secondary schools for 3 months again and finally realised I was better off in EFL/ELT.

Ten years on i am still here.

[Sweetsee]

I stumbled into ESL after being laid off from my butler position in Bel Aire, CA. Twelve years later I was deported from Japan and hoped to revive my butler career but the more I dealt with people in Los Angeles the more I was determined to return to Japan. I did, started over and within 2 years landed a dream job where I am today.